BNP probe faults government 'apathy' for Sundarbans oil spill

The BNP investigations have faulted the government for the oil spill in Sundarbans, home to endangered Royal Bengal Tigers and rare Irrawaddy and Ganges dolphins.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 26 Dec 2014, 01:02 PM
Updated : 26 Dec 2014, 04:22 PM

Its panel of experts has made several recommendations to tackle the spill's long-term effect.

An oil tanker, shipping over 350,000 litres of furnace oil, sank in Shela River in Sundarbans on Dec 9 after being hit by a cargo vessel.

The accident spot is near a dolphin sanctuary and experts fear the impact on the flora and fauna could be catastrophic as tidal flows have spread the oil across rivers and canals deep inside the Sundarbans.

At a press conference on Friday, former water resources minister M Hafiz Uddin Ahmed shared their findings with the media.

OT Southern Star-7, once used to transport sand and stones, was transformed to an oil tanker, he said.

"It had no fitness certificate and was deployed to illegally ship oil using the illegal route.

"The government’s inactivity is unforgivable," Ahmed said.

Several experts from Khulna University assisted the BNP panel in its investigation.

"The [Southern Star-7] owner is the brother-in-law of a minister. It used to illegally ship oil from Khulna through a specific route in the Sundarbans," Ahmed claimed.

The Sundarbans is an UNESCO heritage site and much of its wildlife is unique to this region.

Ahmed said they had not seen any sign of wildlife during their investigation.

"We've seen several dead Irrawaddy dolphins. Dolphins have moved away from the accident area."

Two otters were found dead after drinking the oil-infested waters of Shela River, nine days after the accident.

Ahmed said they could not spot birds and insects common to the area.

Experts have slammed the government's cleanup efforts.

The United Nations sent a team of experts to help with the cleanup.

BNP chief Khaleda Zia formed a probe committee on Dec 20. The seven-member panel visited the Sundarbans and submitted its findings on Wednesday.

Livelihood of the locals will most likely be affected for long, the panel said.

The government used locals' help to skim the oil and said there was no health-hazard.

But the BNP investigators claimed those involved in mop-up had developed skin diseases.

The government temporarily shut the Shela River route after the accident but the shipping ministry had rejected a proposal to permanently close it.

The Ghashiakhali channel, used as India-Bangladesh water protocol route and maritime communication route, was closed nearly three years ago after Mongla's Nala River and Rampal's Kumar River filled up.

Since then, BIWTA has been using Shela River as an alternate route.

A week after the accident, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ordered shutting down shrimp culture farms to reopen the Ghashiakhali Channel.

The panel, too, recommended permanently shutting river routes inside Sundarbans and reopening the channel.

"This accident is the result of the authority's negligence," the committee concluded.